Fence



(No Model.) I I. I I 8 J. HIGGINS 8v J. SULLIVAN;

FENCE.

180.892.3134 Patented N'dv.;6, 1888.

'. "El T Ill LII ATTORNEY.

EYERS. Phnlo-Lllbognphr. Whhinglm G UNITED STATES PATENT Grates.

JAMES HIGGINS AND JOHN SULLIVAN, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Iletters I- atent No. 392,334, dated November 6, 1888.

Application filed April 19, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES HIGGINS and JOHN SULLIVAN, of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and. State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Fence-Post, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to fences for lands and along railways, and has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive fence of this character which may be easily and quickly set up by, unskilled labor, and will by its construction be braced or stayed, so as to form a substantial and neatly-finished structure.

Our post has a longitudinal rib,which is provided with open slots for receiving the fencewires and the top guard-rail, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings we show our post in connection with other posts required to make a complete fence, and also certain tools which we intend to use in erecting the same.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a short section of a fence of which our improved post forms a part. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of a corner-post made with a central rear flange, and shows also two modes of joining the upper or stock guard-rail of the fence. Fig. 3 is a rear face view of the top part of one of the fenceposts with the driving-head applied to it. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the driving head. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the top part of a modified or right angular fence post, and Fig. 6 is a perspective viewof the head portion of the wire-adj usting guide.

In its preferred form the posts of our fence are made of cast, or it may be of wrought, metal, preferably iron, for cheapness of manufacture, and each post consists of a front or main plate portion, A, which is preferably made in concavo convex form transversely, and is provided at its inner concave face with a longitudinal and central flange or rib, B. At its lower end the post-plate A is tapered :fromeach side toward the point of the post, to which the flange B also tapers, the taper of both the plate and flange beginning at a point which will be about level with the groundsurface when the post is driven into the ground, which is done by using a maul or sledge on the Serial No. 271,161. (No model.)

top of a slotted driving-head,0, which fits and is placed onto the tops of the posts. The tapered end of the post-plate A is also reduced in thickness or sharpened fiatwise at its inner or rear face, as at a, to facilitate the easy driving of the post by the maul, as above described.

At their upper ends the post-flanges B are slotted at D lengthwise of the fence to receive the stock guard-rail E, which may be a rod or ribbon of metal or a strip of Wood, but which we at present prefer to make of a galvanizedmetal strip or plate doubled over on itself transversely and placed in the post-slots D, with its bent or rounded edge uppermost. The guard-rail is narrower than the depth of the slots, thus allowing the upper parts of the slots to be closed somewhat or pinched by a blow of a hammer above the rail to look the rail into the slots.

We purpose joining the successive lengths of the guard-rail where they rest in the postslots, and the joints may be made by soldering the ends of the rail-sections together or by providing them with interlocking tongues or grooves, as shown at e in Fig. 2 of the drawings, or by hooking the ends of the rail -sections together, as at c" in Fig. 2, any of these modes ofjoiuing the rail-sections into one continuous rail being effective, as the sections then cannot move endwise one on the other,

and the complete or continuous rail will,wl1en pinched in the postslots, act as a brace both ways to the posts at their tops.

We provide an effective and simple fastening for the wire stringers F of the fence by slitting or slotting the fence post flanges or ribs B transversely and on an angle with the line of the stretched wires, as at G, the slotopenings being higher at the side of the postflanges from which the wires will be drawn upon when stretching them along the fenceposts. The slots Gshown slant or incline across the post-flanges B downward from the right hand toward the left hand, as the wires are supposed to be stretched along the post from left to right, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. l of the drawings. The fence-wires F may be either plain or barbed, and the slots G will be just wide enough to have the wires slip into them.

We employ a tool, H, to aid in placing the 2. The fence-post having a lengthwise rib, 13, provided with a vertical open slot, D, in its upper portion for receiving the top guardrail of the fence, as shown and described.

JAMES HIGGINS. JOHN SULLIVAN.

Witnesses:

FRANK WV. HINE, GEO. SOHERMERHORN. 

